Kerala’s love jihad case: the revealed and the ongoing facts

The famous love jihad case of Kerala is currently in session in New Delhi. Let’s take a quick recap of the past details and then move on to the latest news.

Recap:

• The Kerala high court annulled the marriage of Shafin Jahan and 24-year-old Hadiya (Akhila) in May this year after her father alleged she had unlawfully been indoctrinated into Islam and held captive by her husband.
• The case came to be known as the Kerala ‘love jihad’ after it was alleged that the woman was recruited by Islamic State’s mission in Syria, and Jahan was merely a stooge.
• The Kerala high court gave Hadiya’s father KM Asokan her legal custody after the annulment of the marriage.
• The husband, Jahan, then approached the Supreme Court challenging the high court order. On August 16, the apex court referred the investigation to the National Investigation Agency(NIA) under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court judge.
• The NIA told the Supreme Court that there was a pattern of indoctrination in 89 such cases in Kerala and that it had found a systematic apparatus engaged in targeting and radicalizing youth for jihad. The agency also submitted a sealed cover report to the court on the pattern emerging from the conversion of several young Hindu girls to Islam and how several persons had played a common role in convincing these girls to change their faith.
• As part of the hearing, the Supreme Court observed that the woman’s consent to the marriage was paramount as she is an adult by law. It ordered that Hadiya is to be produced before it for an interaction on November 27, so that it may take a preliminary assessment of her mental state.
• On November 25, while on her way to Delhi to appear before the Supreme Court, Hadiya told reporters that no one forced her into marrying Shafin Jahan. “I want to go with my husband. Nobody forced me to convert,” she said.
• During the course of the hearing, Asokan was accused of keeping his daughter in captivity. He, however, alleged that ‘false propaganda’ had been unleashed against him and his family.

Latest details:

• The session is conducted in closed room under the insistence of Hadiya’s father K.M. Ashokan.
• Citing security reason, Mr. Ashokan was backed up by the NIA.
• Hadiya’s husband Shafin Jahan has come to the Supreme Court.
• The case will be considered by the Court at 3’o clock.
• Hadiya is on her way to the Supreme Court.